Chapter 81
Chapter 81
“Kyaa!!”
“Get inside, quickly! Into your room! Do not come outside for any reason!”
Min Jaeyoon shouted when he spotted the family running through the milky fog. Beep. He fumbled with the preconfigured safety device, and the locked hotel door swung open.
He pushed the whole family inside and hurried to close the door. At once the fog rolled in and swallowed up the corridor.
Kang Ihyun was still only human, so it was impossible for him to cover the entire hotel perfectly with his holy power.
Whenever the holy barrier that protected the civilians thinned even a little, the fog immediately seeped in to fill the gap, and through the mist the dark shape of a vicious beast crept closer.
Biting his lip, Min Jaeyoon flipped frantically through a red grimoire. Red mana hummed and buzzed.
“Wait, who do I call?! Gaf? No, Gaf is already in use somewhere else. I cannot summon many at once, so I need to be careful…”
He kept riffling through the pages, weighing which demon to pull out. A low growl sounded as the beast’s shadow drew nearer.
“Among these, I need the ones that don't eat much mana, so, who, who do I…”
[Sharpshooter Exclusive Basic Skill :: Magic Bullet Fabrication activates!]
Bang! While Min Jaeyoon shook and flipped pages with trembling hands, a blue bullet cut through the corridor.
The beast’s shadow vanished and the fog scattered in an instant. Crack. The magic bullet buried itself in the corridor ceiling.
“Urgh…!”
“A-Are you all right?”
As his tension snapped and his legs nearly gave out after a few steps, a large hand caught him. Min Jaeyoon looked up.
“Who are you?”
“Oh… looks like you are not hurt. Good…! I-I am glad.”
“Ah, gasp, Jeong Suho…! Hello! I am Min Jaeyoon, I just joined White Night this time.”
A silver haired, blue eyed Jeong Suho stood there. He gave a brief smile, helped Min Jaeyoon back to his feet, then glanced down the now clear corridor.
“Yeah, hi. Do you know what is going on? Something insane just happened out of nowhere, but this does not feel like a gate. I have no idea what it is.”
Jeong Suho, who could probably claim to have seen more gates than anyone in Korea, raised one eyebrow.
At that, Min Jaeyoon snapped his mouth shut for a moment. He pressed his fingers to his forehead and sank into thought.
He should ask for help. Yet if he did that, the secret about Baek Jangmi would not remain a secret. Even so.
“Excuse me. I am sorry we just met, but do you have Lude’s phone number?”
After wavering a moment, he grabbed Jeong Suho’s arm.
Pride did not guarantee survival. Even if they ended up hated, they first had to save lives. The experience at the school last time had taught him that lesson down to his bones.
* * *
Creak, creak. Lude dragged the black half pair of scissors along the floor and slowly walked the hotel corridor. As he climbed higher, he approached the top floors.
The higher he went, the weaker Kang Ihyun’s holy power became, and in the places where the holy light had thinned, the fog lay thick.
“Guess the holy flames don't reach the places without people.”
Thankfully, since it was evening, the hallway itself was empty. Everyone was probably at the buffet. The ones in the convention center were Hunters, so he did not worry about them.
The more people were packed together, the easier it would be for Kang Ihyun to defend them, so that side should be fine. Lude checked that the safety devices on each room along the corridor were active, then kept walking.
“What is this? It is not a gate, and it is not normal reality either. Where is the boss hiding?”
He had talked big in front of Min Jaeyoon, but with nothing showing itself, Lude started to get annoyed and frowned. Something was wrong, and he did not know what the cause was.
“Ugh, whatever. I’m going to check this floor and go back. This is driving me crazy.”
Crash! As soon as he said that, a light at the far end of the corridor across from him shattered. Clang! Then the light directly above Lude’s head also shattered, and he lifted his eyebrow and stared ahead again.
“Feels like a sign that says come here, right?”
[Yes. The Lord of Chaos grins, eager to finish this quickly.]
“Huh. You look happy?”
At Lude’s words, the Lord of Chaos sent a laughing emoji. Lude let out a long sigh and walked forward at an unhurried pace.
Soon the long corridor ended, and what appeared in front of him was, out of nowhere, the main entrance to the convention center. Ding, a chime sounded.
The message was obvious, come inside. Lude sighed, then pulled open the convention center doors. Creak. The doors opened, and inside an awards ceremony was underway.
“…What the? Why am I back here again? What is this supposed to be?”
Lude scowled and looked around.
No one in the hall looked his way. Even the cameraman filming from behind ignored him completely, as if he were not there.
Mirrors hung from the ceiling, and the glasses at the ceremony podium were filled with pink champagne over ice. When Lude saw that, he realized this was an illusion.
“Hello?”
At the sudden familiar voice, Lude turned his head. Baek Jangmi stood beside him with a glass of pink champagne in hand. Sensing something off, Lude frowned.
“…Who are you?”
“I am a Constellation.”
“You have got to be kidding me. Hey, don't lie. When a Constellation descends, everyone can tell. The sky opens and all that. You are not scamming anyone here…”
A Constellation’s descent almost never happened, and when it did, even ordinary people noticed. Like the first time gates appeared twenty years ago, the sky opened and a corona of light poured out.
“I am a Constellation who manifested in the mortal realm a long time ago. Twenty years ago.”
“Oh yeah? And you don't show your face once, then suddenly you appear now? Stop being annoying and go back to wherever you came from. I really worked hard to get ready for today, you know?!”
With an incredulous look, Lude raised the black half scissors. Just as spirit energy was about to gather in the blades, Baek Jangmi’s Constellation smiled and stopped his hand.
“Wait, don't be so angry. I only appeared in front of you because I had something to say. Once I finish this, I will go back.”
Holding the champagne in one hand, she reached out with the other and clasped Lude’s hand. She gave him a bright smile, her cheeks flushing red. Lude grimaced deeply.
“Stop being annoying and disappear. I give you ten seconds. Ten, nine, eight…”
“Please save me. And save Jangmi as well.”
Please save me.
Those words made Lude lose his grip for a moment in pure surprise. The Constellation wearing Baek Jangmi’s form looked at him with a sheepish expression.
“Save you? You are Baek Jangmi’s Constellation, aren’t you? That is what you look like at least. You would not bother taking her form for nothing.”
“That is right. I have been watching since you first walked into Baek Jangmi’s workshop.”
“But what does she need saving for? She is strong.”
Baek Jangmi’s Constellation chuckled, in exactly the same way Baek Jangmi did. When Lude raised one eyebrow, she only lifted her shoulders in a little shrug.
“You know this too, do you not? A contract between a Constellation and an avatar does not always produce a good synergy.”
“What are you talking about? If that is the case, your side just breaks the contract first. What is going to stop a Constellation who wants to break their own contract…”
She shrugged again. Lude rubbed the back of his neck and pointed at her as if this made no sense.
“Wait, did you get forced into a contract?”
“Ahaha.”
Baek Jangmi’s Constellation only laughed and touched her own neck. Pale demonic energy scattered, and then he saw a golden collar clasped around her throat.
Holy fire glowed softly from the collar, and the leash attached to it trailed out long, very long. Anyone could see it was a tool meant for restraint. It even looked like a pretty high grade item.
“I have no idea where this came from… Yes, Jangmi’s father captured me. Twenty years ago.”
There were ways for the avatar side to force a contract. You could bind a Constellation to yourself by paying an enormous price.
Of course, the cost was so massive that almost nobody did it.
If a Constellation matched your wavelength and your personality clicked, you might manage with some effort. But finding a Constellation whose wavelength and temperament fit that well was like picking a star out of the sky.
“Jangmi and I don't match well. I use evil demonic energy, and our Jangmi uses ordinary mana. So she is slowly dying. Her father left a will that told her never to release me.”
“Then what exactly do you want me to do?”
Lude suddenly remembered Min Jaeyoon’s behavior back at White Night. The way he had tried to confess something to Lude, yet could not bring himself to say it. Maybe he knew this.
“I want you to break this shackle. Then I can return fully to being a Constellation, and Jangmi can live. She will lose her Constellation, but she might be able to form a new contract with another one.”
“You are misunderstanding something. I don't have some skill that can cut ties between other Constellations and their avatars, and even the system cannot touch something like that. How am I supposed to do that?”
“No. You can.”
Baek Jangmi’s Constellation pointed at Lude with her index finger. She smiled sweetly.
“It is in your inventory, is it not?”
‘Ah.’
Only then did Lude open his inventory. The Essence of a White Rose. A boss monster reward he had picked up in the Migeum Station gate. An odd item that erased all karmic debt and severed the contract between Constellation and avatar.
It had looked impossible to sell, so he had simply thrown it into his inventory and left it there.
'This is… where it comes into play?’
Lude scowled. Third stage boss monster, the Lady of the White Rose. Boss monster, the White Cult Leader. And the drop item, the Essence of a White Rose.
And now, Baek Jangmi, who needed that very item.
…The way every piece lined up perfectly left a bad taste in his mouth. It really felt like someone had set him up as a chess piece.
“Why me?”
Lude looked at the Baek Jangmi Constellation and asked the most basic question. Why me?
Even if he helped, he got nothing out of it, and if things went wrong he would be the one blamed. Above all, the whole situation was so neatly arranged that he could not accept it lightly.
‘I thought this item was junk. Turns out it is insane.’
Suspicion was her core nature, so Nari could not easily trust the Constellation in front of her. It seemed wiser to wring more information out of her about the jumping gates first.
While Lude doubted her, the sound of the host’s voice continued to roll through the quiet awards hall. He glanced to the side without thinking. The host’s face was blurry as he spoke.
“All right, next up is the Hunter of the Year Award, presented to the Hunter who shone brightest this year! And the winner is, our hero who has protected Korea for so many years, Lude!”
The black clad man seated in the center rose with a slightly surprised expression. When Lude saw him, his eyes went wide.
It was himself. Accepting pats on the back from Kang Ihyun and Kang Sujin, he walked up to the stage with an embarrassed, wide smile.
Lude stood there in the illusion holding multiple bouquets, his expression close to tears as he looked into the camera.
“First, thank you so much for giving me such a big award. I… never imagined you cared for me this much. I will continue to devote myself to the work of a Hunter…”
Cameras surrounded Lude and the spotlights flashed. Everyone watched him with faces full of admiration and clapped their hands.
Kang Ihyun, Jeong Suho, Min Jaeyoon, Baek Jangmi, Kang Sujin. Me. Everyone Lude knew.
“I can make that real for you.”
Baek Jangmi shifted her gaze. The false Lude kept smiling brightly and delivering his acceptance speech.
When Lude followed her gaze and stared at that figure, Baek Jangmi looked back at him.
“Lude, if you save me and Jangmi, I will send you back. I will return you to the time before your suffering began.”